ARM continues to outperform market

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Revenues at processor licensor ARM Holdings plc (Cambridge, England) were $263.9 million in the first quarter of 2013, up 26 percent on the equivalent figure in 1Q12. Some 2.6 billion chips were shipped in the 4Q12 quarter, which is the figure that drives first quarter royalties, up 35 percent on 1Q12, the company said.

The company made a profit before tax of £67.1 million (about $100 million) in 1Q13 compared to £51.3 million (about $75 milion) in 2Q12.

"ARM has delivered another quarter of strong revenue and earnings growth, driven by robust licensing and record royalty revenue,” said Warren East, ARM CEO “In particular, this quarter ARM saw strong uptake of its next generation, higher royalty bearing ARMv8, Mali and big.LITTLE technology for smartphones and mobile computers,” East added. East is set to leave the company at the end of the second quarter when he will hand over to Simon Segars.

East said ARM's outperformance of the general semiconductor market had been driven by market share gains in such areas as digital TVs and microcontrollers while the continued growth in smartphone and tablet computer sales continues to benefit ARM.

In terms of the outlook ARM warned that industry-wide revenues would likely be down 10 percent sequentially in the second quarter of 2013. ARM's second quarter royalty revenue is based on first quarter shipments but nonetheless the company said that it expected its second quarter to be "in line with current market expectations."

The company signed 22 processor licenses in the quarter including one ARMv8 architecture license, seven ARMv8 processor licenses and three Mali graphics licenses.